Archives

Armitage confers with Vajpayee, Advani

          New Delhi, May 10: US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage on Saturday met Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. Armitage is on the final leg of a South Asian tour aimed at nudging India and Pakistan further down the path towards peace. Muslim-majority Kashmir is the main issue souring relations between the nuclear-armed neighbours. New Delhi has long bristled at any suggestion of third party involvement in its decades-old feud with Pakistan. The United States has also repeatedly made it clear it was not seeking a mediatory role on the sub-continent.

          But in a sign of the priority Washington is placing on a thaw, President George W Bush dropped in on talks between Indian security adviser Brajesh Mishra and his US counterpart, Condoleezza Rice, in Washington on Thursday. Armitage had earlier in the evening also held meetings with Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani and Finance Minister Jaswant Singh . During the meetings, they discussed wide-ranging bilateral, regional and international issues, including the Indo-Pak developments and the situation in Afghanistan. On the eve of Armitage's visit, hardliner Advani had said friendship with Pakistan was possible, but it must end support for Pakistan-based militants fighting Indian rule in Kashmir.

          After coming close to war over Kashmir last year, India and Pakistan have in recent weeks announced the resumption of normal diplomatic ties and an easing of curbs on transport links imposed after a December 2001 raid on India's parliament it blamed on Pakistan-based militants.

Maleeha Lodhi likely Pak envoy to India (Go To Top)

          Islamabad, May 10: After the finalisation of SS Menon's name as India's new high commissioner to Pakistan, speculations are rife that journalist-turned-diplomat Maleeha Lodhi would be the new Pakistan high commissioner to India. Lodhi, a known face in the list of Pakistan's leading foreign diplomats, has twice served as Pakistan's ambassador to the US. Well-placed official sources said here on Saturday that she is among the front-runners to be appointed to the coveted post. They said a few names had been short-listed, but the final decision would be taken early next week. Another name making rounds is Riaz Muhammad Khan, also a career diplomat. Khan is currently ambassador to China, from where India's current envoy Shiv Shankar Menon would be moving to Islamabad as high commissioner. Both the countries had severed diplomatic links in December 2001 after the parliament attack, which India blamed on Pakistan.

Three Mufti partymen slain by militants (Go To Top)

          Srinagar, May 10: Some unidentified militants killed three activists of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) in two shoot-outs in Bijbehara, south of Srinagar, on Saturday. One party activist was seriously wounded. No militant group has claimed responsibility for the attacks. Bijbehara is the hometown of PDP chief and the state chief minister Mufti Mohammad Syed. The killings took place hours after US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage arrived in New Delhi. Armitage is on the last leg of his South Asian visit to encourage India and Pakistan to come closer. The US dignitary met Pakistani leaders on Thursday and later told reporters he was cautiously optimistic about the peace prospects.

Path to Indo-Pak talks must be built brick by brick: Brajesh Mishra (Go To Top)
-by Priscilla Huff

          Washington, May 10: A stage by stage approach is what India favours towards a dialogue with Pakistan. Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee has also been emphasising it, said Brajesh Mishra, National Security Adviser, during his interaction here with Bush administration officials. "We must not jump into summit meeting or anything like that at the present moment," Mishra stressed at a press conference here. According to him, the opportunity that has came must not be wasted in haste. He added that media reactions also suggest that Islamabad shares its neighbour's views on the process of gradualism.

          Mishra conferred with Secretary of State Colin Powell, Deputy Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and his counterpart, Adviser Condoleeza Rice. A brief conversation with President George Bush at the Oval Office, was an unexpected bonus. The emerging possibility of real peace discussions between India and Pakistan was a focus of Mishra's visit. From Islamabad, US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage expressed his cautious optimism that there is a nascent beginning of a dialogue. But Mishra was adamant that India has not changed its position - that cross-border terrorism must stop before talks take place.

          Meanwhile, Armitage is hoping that he, and more broadly, the United States, can play the role of interlocutor between Islamabad and Delhi. His promise is to faithfully discuss the issues, while dismissing any suggestion of pressure on either side. But Mishra is not convinced that is enough. "We do recognize," the security adviser told the the reporters, "they have talked in Islamabad a number of times as they promised they would but whether the results have been satisfactory from our point of view, that I would question." "The Bush administration has also been indicating, it plans to use economic policies - especially trade as an incentive to resolve difficult international situations," he stated. However, the possibility of free trade agreement for India did not come up in discussions, and Mishra said a solid peace between India and Pakistan will have wide-ranging benefits.

UK reaffirms support for India's Security Council bid (Go To Top)
-by Trevor Barnard

          London, May 10: If India needed confirmation of Britain's support for its bid to become a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, it came this week at the sixth meeting of the Indo-UK Round Table. Two ministers addressed the meeting - Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary Jack Straw and International Trade and Investment Minister Baroness Symonds - and both re- iterated UK's backing for India's bid, along with that of Germany and Japan.

          KC Pant, India's co-chairman at the talks, said: "All members of the Round Table are united in recognising that India, by virtue of its size and weight in global affairs, should have a permanent seat on the UN Security Council".

          Set up three years ago, the Round Table consists of about 12 members from each country drawn from many walks of life, including academia business and the media and is, in effect, a "think-tank" sponsored by the two governments. The group's recommendations are passed to the two governments, and it does not let issues drop if it feels that they are not being acted upon rapidly enough.

          Much of the discussion in Worcestershire was concerned with bilateral trade and investment. The group recognised the importance of the Doha Round negotiations for the sustainable development. The issue of climate change also featured prominently in the discussions. There was also a call for a review of visa issuing arangements. The next meeting of the Round Table will be hosted by India next January.

Grenade thrown at Manipur MLA's residence (Go To Top)

          Imphal, May 10: Miscreants lobbed a grenade at the residence of Manipur State Congress Party MLA Vivek Raj Wangkhem on Saturday. However, no damage was reported as the grenade failed to explode. According to reports, the legislator was not at home at the time of the incident, which took place when 12 members of Imphal East Zilla Parishad were campaigning in his house trying to elect their chairman. The MSCP general secretary Kh. Devabrata Singh urged the government to provide adequate security to Wangkhem.